What is Holika Dahan?
Holika Dahan is the bonfire on the eve of Holi, burning the demoness Holika and with her the year’s accumulated ill. It is lit during Pradosh Kaal, the window just after sunset, on the full moon of Phalguna.
How it is observed
Communities build a pyre at a crossroads or open ground and circle it with offerings of grain and coconut. The fire must not be lit during Bhadra, an inauspicious half-tithi that often covers the evening — when it does, the rite waits for Bhadra to end, and when Bhadra runs past midnight the whole observance moves to the next day.